Through the Lens of the the Living

Erick Bennett
3/15/08
9-3
Through The Lens of the Living
(Music of the 1980's)
Music of the 1980's was a very important moment in history because if you were a artist you were trying to draw the attention of black and white audience. Back in the 80's popular enterainers like micheal jackson,prince,public enemy and the great james brown were mainly making songs that would send a message to the black communitys. also some music that micheal jackson would sing would have to do with social problem and also world wide problems. How did the music influence many people it influence many people because the music that they would be pointing out things in the world that may not be right in some ways and it would make some people who agree with these facts would try to do something about it and fight to improve it and make the world a better place. In the year 1980 micheal jackson came out with the hit Rock with you that peak at number 1 on the pop charts.
Also in the year 1981 song like celebration by kool and the gang were coming out and people like the song even though it was written by someone white people still loved the song because it was about having good time's siting back and relaxing. In the year 1983 micheal jackson's thriller was the best selling album in the United states featuring song Beat It , Billie Jean,Thriller and another of Micheal jackson's smash hits wanna be startin something. At the time micheal jackson's thriller was released it was number 1 on the charts for 37 weeks and at this time music hit it's high peak and didn't stop. also on january 31,1983 thriller was certified as platinum. Another great artist of the 80's is prince who is very simular to micheal jackson but is not as good as the king of pop.
In 1984 prince wrote the song when doves cry which is a very nice song ,ade it's way on the top 10 song on the pop charts. In 1986 prince scored again with another great hit kiss which was a song that would relax the your mood. In 1988 Micheal jackson released two more song The way you make me feel which was one of micheal's top hits because of the energy he bought to the song . Also one of micheal's most inspiring songs was Man in the Mirror because he was trying to get a point that when you look in a mirror don't just look at your self as a regular person see your self as someone who can change the world in many different ways. In 1989 Michael Jackson's bad tour was the largest tour any entertainer has ever done before it was 16 months with 123 shows in15 countries and 4 continents and viewed about 2 million people.
Also in 1889 michael Jackson performed at sammy davis jr 60 anniversary who was one of the greatest performers of all time. Also the song that michael sang at his anniversary was nominated for a emmy award . But besides micheal jackson being the greatest entertainer alive in the 1980's there were many more popular groups out like grand master flash and the furious five and public enemy. Who all come the days of Hip-Hop, now in the 80's i'll say that is when Hip-Hop took a major leap. Because these groups were making music that everybody wanted to hear so people would really listen to the songs and not just turn it off as soon as it came on because it wasn't the type of music they listen to before.
Also besides Hip-Hop being big in the 80's their was a simular genre called R&B which had to do with alot of talented singers such as bobby brown,baby face and whitney houston. On very touching song by whitney was The Greatest Love of all which talks about how are children are the furture and that it depends on us to change and help the world in any way possible. Another popular song was my proragative in this song bobby brown was basically saying why is everybody always trying to tell him what to do and let him live his life. But for all these talented entertainers to be as successful as they were in the 80's they knew it was always a consistant race to have a song that was always better and differrent an did not have the same vibe and flow your last song had. Also it was a fight for artist to create song that would be albe to build it's way up to try and get a spot on the charts and to put in that extra effort so your song could sell more than a artist who is always a big seller.
During the late 1978 and the beggining of the 1980's hip-hop began to take its break in the South Brox area of New York City. Basically representing it's self with graffiti art, break dancing, rap music and fashion. Hip-Hop soon became a major cultural movement for the African American and Hispanic Communities in the 1980's by tagging rapping and break dancing which were all acts of the male and female competition.
But as Hip-Hop spread around more people started to boost up hip-hop to make it even bigger be know world wide starting with some hip-hop pioneers like Afrika Bambauta who founded the Zulu Nation which was a organization of talented street dance crews, graffiti artist and rap musicians. The popularity of Hip-Hop grew quickly to pull forward white consumers through movies,music,vidoes,radio play and media reports. The next Hip-Hop pioneer is Run-Dmc which include joesph simmons(Rev), Darryl Mcdanles(DMC) and the late Dj jam master j who was shot and killed.Run- Dmc are Hip-Hop pioneers because of the music brought to the table and the flow that all there songs one of the most famous songs is Walk This way featuring aerosmith which was made in 1982.
Also thier were many more Hip-Hop pioneers such as Public Enemy which was formed by Chuck D who is a member and his companion Flava-Flav who was best know for wearing a big clock around his neck and for being Chuck's hype man. Public Enemy best used thier talented music skill to bring awareness to the black communities about things that were destroying the communities and the streets of the young people and that it was a time for change and that it was up to the people to do something about. Also in 1988 Public Enemy released It takes a nation to hold us back which was one of the most out spoken and successful album's of all times. Besides Public Enemy being one of the best their was one group that shock the world The Beastie boys whick was a all white group but the way they would rap would make them sound black but other than thier color they were just as hot as any other hip-hop group out in the 80's.
One more hip-hop pioneer that really made hip-hop pop was LL Cool J which stood for Ladys Love Cool J which was a pretty cool name but the reason he made hip-hop better was because the ladys love him and that he bought this whole new attitude of a bad boy and was really hard core. Also some songs that boosted up his career was mamma said knock you out that was one of his major hits as teenager. But one day LL Cool J decided that he wanted to try making love song but people were against it because they wanted him to keep making the music he was doing bacause they really like it. But he went on and made his first love song called I need Love and some of his fans did not like and some did then after that song released I'm Going back to Cali" which was a very smooth song and the fan loved the song.
Also all these great Hip-Hop pioneers learned that it's all about your fan when you are a entertainer and that you often write music for your fans because they are what make you sucessful and rich. An the last Hip-Hop pioneer of them all Krs-One who is one of the most respected pioneer of all because of how real he was and didn't try to sugar coat anything and that just how his music was and he to used his talented music skills to bring awareness to more Black communities and stopping racial hate and to respect one another.
Now back to the oldies of the 1980's this man was very great singer and is a popular figure inthe the world today this man is blind but can still play the piano and the harmonaca and his named is Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder is a very talented person in the music industury and is still performing in front of live audience and is a person that many entertainer's of today look up to him. In the 80's Stevie Wonder had sucessful songs such as Superstition, Ribbon in the Sky, Isn't she lovely, Do i Do and finally Happy Birthday which was dedicated to Martin Luther King jr on his birthday and Stevie Wonder is the reason why Martin Luther King's birthday is a national holiday.
Finally to conclude my story I think the music of the1980's was a very important moment in history because it show black, white and hispanic communities major thing that were wrong in the communities and things that were good in the communities. Also I think that the 1980's was the time of Hip-Hop because that is when many of the people who made Hip-hop a world wide thing and many people like what they were hearing. and wanted to be apart of something that would change the world and would be later thank for because they were paving the way for many more artist to make Hip-Hop even more know to the world and would never be forgotten
Also I fill that all the people who were apart of this decade will be remembered for all there hard work to make it last and to make the people around at that time happy to be apart of the community that helped the artist be sucessful and to continue letting them make music to please the fans and the world. But more importantly without the Hip-Hop pioneers Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Krs-One, Run-Dmc, Afrika Bambauta and Grandmaster flash and the furious five hip-hop would not be as big as it is now.
Finally all the music of the 1980's was very impotant because it always had a message and and was never about the money or how many girls you had but it was about changing the world and and making a difference in people who didn't always do good thing but had a good heart. and to end this story the 80's was a great decade and the music the represented the 80's will always be remembered as the decade of change